Euro-zone finance ministers unanimously support the
exemption of smaller depositors from a tax that Cypriot authorities are
planning to levy on bank accounts to increase the fairness of island's
bailout program, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said Tuesday.

As part of a bailout agreement over the weekend with
the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European
Central Bank, Cypriot authorities decided a one-off tax on bank deposits
that aims to raise EUR5.8 billion of the total bailout package. The
rest of the money would come from the euro zone.

The bank levy, which in effect is stealing, euro-zone finance ministers are
calling a "solidarity tax", was criticized for appearing to make savers
with deposits up to EUR100,000 pay for the excesses of Cypriot banks,
and the announcement of this sparked protests in the
Mediterranean island.

Expectledy, Russia's President Vladimir Putin also weighed in on
the matter, calling the move "dangerous" "illegal", and "unfair." The proposed move
would affect Russian financial institutions, which hold more than $30
billion in accounts there, or roughly 30% of all Cypriot deposits.

Meanwhile, EU officials continued to play the game and pretend that this was a 'sudden' decision that was somehow brought by Nicosia, and not Berlin and Paris. "If the Cypriot government so wishes, we're ready to
exonerate depositors with less than EUR100,000 ($129,000) of all taxes
levied to finance this program," Mr. Moscovici told reporters Tuesday.

He said a "taboo" had been broken when the Cypriot
government decided to tax deposits smaller than EUR100,000, a
psychological threshold because this was the amount guaranteed by public
authorities were a financial institution to be declared bankrupt.

To make up for the shortfall, Mr. Moscovici suggested Tuesday that higher rates be applied on larger deposits.

Residents in Cyprus own a total of EUR30 billion in deposits there, while non-residents own EUR40 billion, Mr. Moscovici said.

According to financial insiders, similar bank robberies sponsored by Governments are expected in Italy, Spain, even the US where the FDIC security deposit insurance expired on December 31, 2012.